JPH1049472A - Electronic computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic computer system which displays the state information on the compact and inexpensive OA devices via a host computer in the moving images, monitors the OA devices in the job site feeling to accurately deal with their operations and effectively uses the OA devices. SOLUTION: An OA device 1a is selected by an instruction of a host computer 3, and the operation of a printer is carried out. The division state information obtained by dividing the total state information on a series of operations of the device 1a are stored in the OA devices 1a to 1c respectively. A state information control means retrieves the division state information corresponding to the state notification requests out of the devices 1a to 1c by these notification request given from the computer 3. Then the retrieved division state information are transferred to the computer 3 as the moving image data. Thus, it's possible to reduce the storage capacity of the devices 1a to 1c with reduction of their production costs, to accurately grasp the operations and the occurrence of abnormality of the devices 1a to 1c in the moving images at the side of the computer 3 and to effectively use these OA devices.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a OA device group comprising a plurality of OA devices connected to a host computer via a network, and belonging to a predetermined OA device group in accordance with a command from the host computer. The present invention relates to a computer system in which one of OA devices is selected and an OA operation is performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of printers, copiers, facsimile machines, etc.
A device is connected and the desired O
2. Description of the Related Art An electronic computer system for selecting an A device and performing an OA operation is used. In this type of conventional computer system, the operating state of the driven OA device is displayed on the monitor of the host computer as "copying is in progress", "copying is interrupted", "copying is finished". Displayed by a message, the operator
OA which was driven by this message if necessary
Go to the installation site of the equipment, perform the corresponding processing,
A job by the OA device can be executed by correcting a paper jam or the like.

[0003] However, for the operator, the operation status of the OA device being driven includes the operation status of various operation buttons and display lamps of the operation panel of the OA device, the print paper discharge classification binding status, and the like. It is desirable that the operation image of the OA device be continuously displayed as a moving image on a monitor of the host computer as if the operator is at the installation site of the OA device, and that an abnormal state can be promptly and appropriately dealt with. .

[0004]

However, one OA
Storing all the moving image data in the device increases the size of the device and increases the manufacturing cost, which is against the trend of the development of OA devices that require miniaturization and low manufacturing cost.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the current situation of the above-described electronic computer system.
Maintaining the miniaturization and low manufacturing cost of the OA device, the host computer displays the moving image of the status information of the OA device, and the operator monitors the OA device with the host computer as if it were at the site. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic computer system capable of efficiently and accurately using an OA device.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, at least one OA device group including a plurality of OA devices is connected to a host computer via a network. An OA operation executing means for executing an OA operation in accordance with a command from the host computer, wherein one of OA devices belonging to a predetermined OA device group is selected and an OA operation is performed. A network interface for performing a communication control operation via the network, and state information in which one of divided state information obtained by dividing entire state information indicating a series of operations of OA devices belonging to the same type of OA device group is stored and managed. Management means, and a divided state corresponding to a status notification request from the host computer. Detecting the information, and status information control means for controlling transfers the detected divided state information as a moving image data to the host computer, and is characterized in that is provided to each of the plurality of OA apparatuses.

[0007] Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the status information control means responds to a status notification request from the host computer. If there is division state information newer than the division state information read from the state information management means in another state information management means, the division state information read from the state information management means is transferred to the host computer as moving image data. It is characterized by controlling.

[0008] Similarly, in order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 3 is different from the invention according to claim 2 in that when the state information control means reads new division state information, the division state information is read. A storage control means for storing the information in its own state information management means is provided.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the OA apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an explanation showing the configuration of information transmitted and received via the network of the embodiment. FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are flowcharts showing the operation of the embodiment.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, three printers performing the same print operation are connected to a host computer 3 via a network 2 by an OA device 1a.
1b and 1c, each of the OA devices 1a to 1c
As shown in FIG. 2, the OA device 1a is assigned a NET-ID that is identifiable on the network 2, and the host computer 3 and the other OA devices 1b, 1c
A network I / F unit 7 for controlling a communication operation with the network is provided, and this network I / F unit 7 is connected to the network 2. Also, the network I / F unit 7 includes:
A status information management unit 8 that interprets a status notification request input from the network I / F unit 7 and fetches division status information from the OA devices 1a, 1b, and 1c and controls a transfer operation to the host computer 3 is connected. I have.

The status information management unit 8 includes an OA device 1a
Is connected to a storage unit 9 in which overall state information indicating a series of print operations is stored as one of three divided state information. In this case, the other division state information of the OA device 1a includes an OA that can execute the same operation as the OA device 1a.
The data is divided and stored in the storage units of the devices 1b and 1c,
It is configured to be readable by the status information management unit 8 of the A device 1a. Also, network I / F
A printer controller 6 for converting print data input from the network I / F 7 into image signals
Is connected to the printer control unit 6, and a printing unit 5 that performs a printing operation based on an image signal supplied from the printer control unit 6 is connected.

In this embodiment, the OA device 1a
In the description, the state information management unit 8 stores divided state information corresponding to a state notification request from the host computer 3,
When stored in its own storage unit 9, the division state information is read from the storage unit 9, and is controlled to be transferred as moving image data to the host computer 3, and the division state information corresponding to the state notification request from the host computer 3 is read. If the status information is not stored in the storage unit 9, other O
State information control means for detecting the division state information from the storage units of the A devices 1b and 1c and controlling the corresponding state information management unit to transfer the division state information to the host computer 3 as moving image data is provided. Have been.

The operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration is described below.
The operation of the OA device 1a will be mainly described based on the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1 of the flowchart of FIG.
The received command input via the network I / F unit 7 is analyzed by the status information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a, and when it is determined that the received command is a status notification request from the host computer 3, step S2. The state information management unit 8 searches the internal storage of the storage unit 9 and determines in step S3 whether moving image data corresponding to the status notification request is stored in the storage unit 9. Is done. In this case, the status notification request transmitted from the host computer 3 is, as shown in FIG. 3A, a NET that specifies the OA device 1a to execute the job.
-ID and designation data 12 of the status notification request.

In step S3, when it is determined that the moving image data corresponding to the status notification request is stored in the storage unit 9 of the OA device, the process proceeds to step S4, where the status information management unit 8 controls The status notification response to the status notification request read from the storage unit 9
The corresponding moving image data is transferred to the host computer 3 via the network I / F unit 7, and the moving image indicating the current operation state of the OA device 1 a corresponding to the state notification request is displayed on the monitor of the host computer 3. Is displayed. In this case, the status notification response transferred from the OA device 1a to the host computer 3 includes, as shown in FIG. 3E, a NET-ID specifying the destination host computer 3, the specification data 18 of the status notification response, and Corresponding moving image data 1
9.

If it is determined in step S3 that the moving image data corresponding to the status notification request is not stored in the storage unit 9, the process proceeds to step S5, where the OA device 1a
In response to a command from the status information management unit 8, a moving image investigation request including OA device name data and status notification request data is output to the network 2 via the network I / F unit 7. In this case, the moving image survey request output from the OA device 1a to the network 2 is, as shown in FIG.
It is composed of a NET-ID for specifying the OA device 1a that is the transmission source, designation data 13 of a moving image investigation request, and status notification request data 14 indicating the OA device name and status.

According to the output of the moving image investigation request in step S5, each network I /
The moving image investigation request is input to the status information management units of the 0A devices 1b and 1c via the F unit, and in step S10, the respective storage units of the OA devices 1b and 1c are searched by the status information management units. And step S1
At 1, it is determined whether or not the moving image data corresponding to the moving image investigation request is stored in the storage unit 9. When it is determined in step S11 that the moving image data corresponding to the moving image investigation request is stored in the storage unit 9, the process proceeds to step S12, and the moving image inspection response including the moving image data is transmitted. Are output to the network 2 via the network I / F by the state information management unit. As shown in FIG. 3C, the moving picture survey response in this case is composed of a NET-ID for specifying the transmission source, designated data 15 of the moving picture survey response, and moving picture frame information data 16.

By the way, after the output of the moving image investigation request, in step S6, the state information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a
Thus, it is determined via the network I / F unit 7 whether or not there is a moving image investigation response to the moving image investigation request issued in step S5, and the OA device 1b or the OA device 1
If there is a moving image survey response from step c, step S7
It is determined whether or not the OA device name data and the status notification request data of the video inspection response match the OA device name data and the status notification request data of the video inspection request issued in step S5. Is done. Then, in step S7, when it is determined that the OA device name data and the status notification request data of the moving image survey request and the moving image survey response match, in this case, it is assumed that there is a moving image response from the OA device 1b.
Proceeding to step S8, under the control of the state information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a, via the network I / F unit 7,
A moving image transfer request is output to the OA device 1b. As shown in FIG. 3D, the moving image transfer request in this case specifies the NET-ID for specifying the OA device 1b, the specifying data 17 of the moving image transfer request, and the fact that the transfer destination is the host computer 3. NET-ID.

Such a moving image transfer request is transmitted to the OA device 1
b is input to the state information management unit via the network I / F, and in step S13, the OA device 1b
Under the control of the status information management unit, the status notification response including the moving image frame information data output to the network 2 in step S12 is transferred to the host computer, and the OA device corresponding to the status notification request is displayed on the monitor of the host computer 3. A moving image indicating the current operation state of 1a is displayed. In this case, the status notification response transferred from the OA device 1b to the host computer 3 corresponds to the already described FIG.
As shown in (e), the NET-ID specifying the destination host computer 3 and the specification data 18 of the status notification response
And corresponding moving image data 19.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in response to a status notification request from the host computer 3, in the 0A device 1a that is executing a job, the status information management unit 8 sends the status notification request from the storage unit 9 to the status notification request. When the corresponding division state information is retrieved and the corresponding division state information is stored in the storage unit 9, the division state information is transferred to the host computer 3 as a state notification response, and is transmitted to the monitor of the host computer 3. A moving image indicating the current operation state of the OA device 1a is displayed based on the state notification response. If the storage unit 9 of the OA device 1a does not store the divided status information corresponding to the status notification request, the OA device 1a controls the network 2 in response to the status notification request from the host computer 3. When the moving image investigation response from the OA device 1b is determined to be appropriate by the state information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a, the moving image investigation request from the state information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a is output. In response to the image transfer request, a status notification response is transferred from the status information management unit of the OA device 1b to the host computer 3.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the overall state information indicating a series of operations of the OA device is stored in the OA devices 1a to 1a.
By storing the data in the storage unit of the OA device 1a, the device can be made smaller and the device can be configured at low manufacturing cost.
The operator who instructs the execution of the job to the OA device 1a
Can be monitored as a continuous moving image on the monitor of the host computer 3, and the OA device can be used efficiently while accurately grasping the operation of the OA device and occurrence of abnormalities in the moving image. Becomes possible.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the status information control means
In addition to the functions of the first embodiment, in response to a status notification request from the host computer 3, the division status information newer than the division status information read from its own storage unit is stored in another OA device. If it exists in the storage unit, it has a function of transferring the division state information read from the storage unit to the host computer 3 as moving image data. The configuration of the other parts of the present embodiment has already been described with reference to FIG.
2 is the same as the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

The operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration is described below.
The operation of the OA device 1a will be mainly described based on the flowchart of FIG.

Step S21 in the flowchart of FIG.
Then, the received command input via the network I / F unit 7 is analyzed by the status information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a, and when it is determined that the received command is a status notification request from the host computer 3, In step S22, the internal storage of the storage unit 9 is searched by the status information management unit 8, and in step S23, in response to the status notification request, the moving image having the configuration already described with reference to FIG. The investigation request is output to the network 2 via the network I / F unit 7, and the process proceeds to step S24, where it is determined whether a driver investigation response to the status notification request is present.

In step S23, a moving image investigation request output to the network 2 is input to the OA devices 1b and 1c according to a command from the state information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a.
In step S30, the respective storages are searched by the status information management units of the OA devices 1b and 1c. In step S31, it is determined whether or not the corresponding moving image data is stored. Is stored, the process proceeds to step S32, for example, when O
The moving image investigation response including the moving image data having the configuration already described with reference to FIG. 3C is output from the A device 1b to the network via the network I / F unit by the state information management unit.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that there is no driver investigation response, the process proceeds to step S26, where O
The status information management unit 8 of the A device 1a determines whether or not there is a corresponding driver in the storage unit 9. If it is determined that there is no corresponding driver, the process proceeds to step S27, where the OA device 1a An error notification is sent from the status information management unit 8 to the host computer 3 via the network I / F unit 7 to the effect that there is no data corresponding to the status notification request. In step S26, when the status information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a determines that there is a driver corresponding to the storage unit 9, the process proceeds to step S28.
The status notification response based on the driver having the configuration already described with reference to FIG. 3E is transferred to the network via the network I / F unit 7 by the status information management unit 8 and is transmitted to the monitor of the host computer 3. A moving image indicating the current operation state of the OA device 1a corresponding to the notification request is displayed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that there is a driver survey response, the process proceeds to step S25, where the state of the OA device related to the driver survey response is changed to the OA device 1
It is determined by the status information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a whether or not it is older than a.
Proceeding to 26, the following processing is performed as described above. If it is determined in step S25 that the state of the OA device related to the driver investigation response is new, the process proceeds to step S29, and the control of the state information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a causes, for example, the OA related to the driver investigation response. A moving image transfer request having the configuration already described with reference to FIG. 3D is transferred from the network 2 to the OA device 1b via the network I / F unit 7 to the device 1b. In step S33, the OA device 1b having received the moving image transfer request sends a state notification response including the moving image frame information data in the configuration already described with reference to FIG. 3E under the control of the state information management unit. Is transferred to the host computer, and a moving image indicating the current operation state of the OA device 1a corresponding to the state notification request is displayed on the monitor of the host computer 3.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the first
In addition to the effects obtained in the embodiment, the state information management unit 8 of the OA device 1a selected for execution of a job by the host computer 3 has a division state newer than the division state information of its own storage unit 9. If the information is stored in the other OA devices 1b and 1c, it is controlled to transfer the new division state information to the host computer 3, so that
The operator monitors a series of operations of the OA device 1a on the monitor of the host computer 3 as a continuous new moving image, and accurately grasps the operation of the OA device and occurrence of abnormality with the new moving image, and Can be used efficiently.

[Third Embodiment] A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the present embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the write operation to the storage of the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, when the state information control means detects new division state information, the storage control means for storing the division state information in its own storage differs from the second embodiment described above. Is provided. The configuration of the other parts of the present embodiment is the same as that of the second embodiment already described, and therefore, will not be described repeatedly.

The operation of the present embodiment having such a configuration is described below.
The operation of the OA device 1a will be mainly described.

The operations of steps S41 to S53 of the flowchart of FIG. 6 are the same as the operations of steps S21 to S33 of FIG. 5, which have already been described. In the present embodiment, in step S53, the OA device 1b that has received the moving image transfer request
From FIG. 3 including moving image frame information data
The status notification response having the configuration described in (e) is transferred to the host computer under the control of the status information management unit, and the monitor of the host computer 3 displays the current operation status of the OA device 1a corresponding to the status notification request. When the moving image shown is displayed, the process proceeds to step S54, where the OA device 1a, which is the moving image transfer request source, has the configuration described in FIG. 3E under the control of the state information management unit of the OA device 1b. The status notification response is forwarded. Then, in the OA device 1a to which the status notification response has been transferred, based on the transferred status notification response, step S55 of the flowchart shown in FIG.
Then, the version of the status information data stored in the storage unit 9 is upgraded.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the second
In addition to the effects obtained in the embodiment, when the OA device 1a stores new status information in another OA device at the time of executing a job, the status information management unit 8 controls
Since new status information is taken in from another OA device and the version of the status information stored in the storage unit 9 is upgraded, by upgrading one of the similar OA devices, another OA device is automatically updated. The version of the device is upgraded, and the work of upgrading the version can be reduced.

In each of the embodiments, a case has been described in which a group of three printers are connected to the host computer 3 via the network 2 as the OA devices 1a to 1c. For example, in addition to three printers, a group of five copiers and a group of six facsimile machines are
It is also possible to adopt a configuration connected to a host computer via a network.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, one of the OA devices is selected from a predetermined OA device group by a command issued from the host computer via the network interface, and the OA of the selected OA device is selected.
The OA operation of the OA device is performed by the operation execution unit. The overall state information indicating a series of operations of the OA devices belonging to the same type of OA device group is divided into divided state information. It is stored and managed in the state information management means of the OA device, and when a state notification request is issued from the host computer, the state information control means
The division state information corresponding to the state notification request from the host computer is detected via the network interface, and the detected division state information is transferred to the host computer as moving image data, so that the storage capacity of each OA device is reduced. With the size reduced and the manufacturing cost reduced, the host computer can accurately grasp the operation of the OA device and the occurrence of an abnormality with a moving image, and can use the OA device efficiently. According to the second aspect of the present invention, one of the OA devices is selected from a predetermined OA device group by a command issued from the host computer via the network interface, and the selected OA device is selected.
The OA operation execution means of the device A causes the OA of the OA device
The operation is executed, but overall state information indicating a series of operations of the OA devices belonging to the same type of OA device group is divided into divided state information, and one of the divided state information is stored and managed in the state information management means of each OA device. When a status notification request is issued from the host computer, the status information control means detects, via the network interface, the latest split status information corresponding to the status notification request from the host computer, and Is transferred to the host computer as moving image data, so that the storage capacity of each OA device is reduced and the manufacturing cost is reduced.
The operation of the OA device and the occurrence of an abnormality can be accurately grasped with the latest moving image, and the OA device can be used efficiently. According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect obtained by the second aspect, the division state information of the selected OA device automatically corresponds to the new division state information of another OA device. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the trouble of upgrading the OA device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the OA device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of information exchanged via a network according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a write operation to a storage according to the third embodiment of this invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b, 1c OA device 2 network 3 host computer 5 printing unit 6 printer control 7 network I / F unit 8 status information management unit 9 storage unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] At least one OA device group including a plurality of OA devices is connected to a host computer via a network, and one of OA devices belonging to a predetermined OA device group is selected by a command from the host computer. An OA operation that executes an OA operation in response to an instruction from the host computer; a network interface that performs a communication control operation via the network; and an OA device of the same type. State information management means for storing and managing one of the divided state information obtained by dividing the entire state information indicating a series of operations of the OA device belonging to the group, and detecting the divided state information corresponding to the state notification request from the host computer And outputs the detected division state information to the host computer. Computer system and status information control means for transferring control as moving image data, and being provided to each of the plurality of OA devices. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein said state information control means is newer than the divided state information read from its own state information management means in response to a state notification request from said host computer. If the divided state information is present in another state information management means, the division state information read from the state information management means is transfer-controlled as moving image data to the host computer. 3. The computer system according to claim 2, further comprising storage control means for storing the divided state information in its own state information management means when said state information control means reads new divided state information. An electronic computer system characterized by being performed.